Cayenne

Quick and simple food doesn't have to mean McDonald's or Papa John's. Susie Quick gives the time-crunched cook a healthful and flavorful alternative in "Quick Simple Food" (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2003, $32.50). Nutrition meets modern life in this compilation of creative dishes. Many of the recipes have an Asian bent, such as the miso soup with udon, shiitake mushrooms and bok choy, and others are a souped-up version of an American staple, such as macaroni and cheese with sage crumbs.

If you're taking part in the current cultural psychosis known as the low-carb revolution, this is not the cookbook for you. That's too bad. You're missing out on a host of delicious recipes for culinary pariahs like pasta, pizza and potatoes. In her latest book, "Rome, at Home" (Broadway Books, 2004, $29.95), food writer Suzanne Dunaway isn't particularly worried about carbohydrates -- or any sort of calories, really. In addition to focaccia and linguine, many of the more than 150 recipes in the book require abundant amounts of olive oil, butter and parmesan cheese.

Quick and simple food doesn't have to mean McDonald's or Papa John's. Susie Quick gives the time-crunched cook a healthful and flavorful alternative in "Quick Simple Food" (Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2003, $32.50). Nutrition meets modern life in this compilation of creative dishes. Many of the recipes have an Asian bent, such as the miso soup with udon, shiitake mushrooms and bok choy, and others are a souped-up version of an American staple, such as macaroni and cheese with sage crumbs.

Dot Vartan's latest book, "Is It Soup Yet," offers more than 100 formulas for my favorite therapeutic food. It was written as a companion to Vartan's first book of more than 100 muffin recipes, a venture she decided to undertake after her favorite bakery closed. If you're like me, you sometimes long for this simple, heart-warming food. After waiting in long lines to return gifts and stretching yourself thin trying to attend every festive event you've been invited to over the holidays, you may be feeling drained and disappointed.

Red-hot recipes for breads, main dishes, salsas and desserts are the main attractions in the cookbook "Biker Billy Cooks with Fire." When I spotted TV chef Bill Hufnagle's book in the pepper section of Burpee's seed catalog, I couldn't resist adding it to my order. I don't fancy eating hot foods, but reading about them is another matter. Hufnagle says he likes to cook with fire for the same reason he rides a motorcycle. "I like life and food hot and flavorful, with some adventure thrown in for good measure," he writes.

"Comfort food" is a curious category for a cookbook. Is it a heaping plate of lasagna or a large stack of Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookies? Chicken soup or your grandmother's fried chicken? In the "Comfort Food Cookbook," food writer Johanna Burkhard selects many middle-American favorites, such as tuna noodle bake and brownies. But she also includes regional specialties and modern recipes that are just plain good eating. In the same chapter with basic meatballs, for example, is baked brie with cranberry-pear chutney.

It was just 12 minutes until judging and Cmdr. Sergei Kowalchik still wasn't satisfied with the mean-looking pot of "In Harms Way" chili he had been cooking all day. He wringled his nose, rubbed his fingers together to illustrate what was wrong and ordered up a dash of cayenne pepper. "We've still got 12 minutes to get it perfect. The flavor is still off, but I'm working on it," said the two-time winner of the Atlantic Fleet chili cook-off. By the end of the day Sunday his team from U.S. Atlantic Command was a three-time winner for the Atlantic Fleet.

Norfolk resident Zoubeida Ounaies prepares her mother's recipe for "Couscous a la Tunisian" when she's homesick for her native country Tunisia. As a child, Zoubeida's mother often served couscous, Tunisia's national dish, prepared with a tomato stew, fresh vegetables and either lamb, fish, beef or chicken. Zoubeida recreated this recipe for "Cooking for a Cure," a cookbook she compiled with friends. Sales of the cookbook will raise money for Relay For Life, an American Cancer Association fund-raiser.

Norfolk resident Zoubeida Ounaies prepares her mother's recipe for "Couscous a la Tunisian" when she's homesick for her native country Tunisia. As a child, Zoubeida's mother often served couscous, Tunisia's national dish, prepared with a tomato stew, fresh vegetables and either lamb, fish, beef or chicken. Zoubeida recreated this recipe for "Cooking for a Cure," a cookbook she compiled with friends. Sales of the cookbook will raise money for Relay For Life, an American Cancer Association fund-raiser.

Red-hot recipes for breads, main dishes, salsas and desserts are the main attractions in the cookbook "Biker Billy Cooks with Fire." When I spotted TV chef Bill Hufnagle's book in the pepper section of Burpee's seed catalog, I couldn't resist adding it to my order. I don't fancy eating hot foods, but reading about them is another matter. Hufnagle says he likes to cook with fire for the same reason he rides a motorcycle. "I like life and food hot and flavorful, with some adventure thrown in for good measure," he writes.

Dot Vartan's latest book, "Is It Soup Yet," offers more than 100 formulas for my favorite therapeutic food. It was written as a companion to Vartan's first book of more than 100 muffin recipes, a venture she decided to undertake after her favorite bakery closed. If you're like me, you sometimes long for this simple, heart-warming food. After waiting in long lines to return gifts and stretching yourself thin trying to attend every festive event you've been invited to over the holidays, you may be feeling drained and disappointed.

"Comfort food" is a curious category for a cookbook. Is it a heaping plate of lasagna or a large stack of Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookies? Chicken soup or your grandmother's fried chicken? In the "Comfort Food Cookbook," food writer Johanna Burkhard selects many middle-American favorites, such as tuna noodle bake and brownies. But she also includes regional specialties and modern recipes that are just plain good eating. In the same chapter with basic meatballs, for example, is baked brie with cranberry-pear chutney.